Sally Hawkins - Biography - IMDb Sally Hawkins Jump to: Overview (2) | Mini Bio (1) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (53) | Personal Quotes (45) Overview (2) 5' 2" (1.57 m) Mini Bio (1) Sally Hawkins was born in 1976 in Lewisham hospital, London, England, to Jacqui and Colin Hawkins, authors and illustrators of children's books. She is of English and Irish descent. Hawkins was brought up in Greenwich, in southeast London. She attended James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1998. Hawkins' theatre appearances include Much Ado About Nothing (2000), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2000), Misconceptions (2001), Country Music (2004), and David Hare 's adaptation of Federico García Lorca's play The House of Bernarda Alba in 2005. Hawkins made her first notable screen performance as Samantha in the 2002 Mike Leigh film All or Nothing (2002).

She also appeared as Slasher in the 2004 film Layer Cake (2004). She played the role of Zena Blake in the BBC adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel, Tipping the Velvet (2002) in 2002. Her first major television role came in 2005, when she played Susan Trinder in the BAFTA-nominated BBC drama Fingersmith (2005), an adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel of the same name, in which she co-starred with Imelda Staunton , as she had in Vera Drake (2004). Since then she has gone on to star in another BBC adaptation, Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky. Hawkins appeared in three episodes of the BBC comedy series Little Britain (2003), in addition to Ed Reardon's Week on BBC Radio 4. She has also contributed to the BBC Radio 4 series Concrete Cow. In 2006, Hawkins returned to the stage, appearing at the Royal Court Theatre in Jez Butterworth's The Winterling.

In 2007, she played the lead in a new film of Jane Austen 's Persuasion, and followed this with her critically acclaimed performance in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008). Questions and a minor controversy arose when Hawkins was not nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Poppy. It was the first year since 2000-01 that the winner of the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy was not nominated for an Academy Award, and the first year since 1995-96 that no one from the category was nominated. During 2006 she also made uncredited appearances in Richard Ayoade 's Man to Man with Dean Learner where she played various uncredited roles from Personal Assistant to Wife of Steve Pising in various deleted scenes included on the DVD. Hawkins' 2009-10 films included Desert Flower (2009), Never Let Me Go (2010), and Happy Ever Afters (2009). In November 2010, she appeared on Broadway as Vivie in Mrs. Warren's Profession.

In 2011, Hawkins appeared in Submarine (2010) and had a supporting role in the film adaptation of Jane Eyre (2011). - IMDb Mini Biography By: Lily S. Trade Mark (3) Often works with Mike Leigh Often portrays people of lower class. An apologetic and grateful presence, with a shy and nervous demeanor. Trivia (53) Contributed her writing skills to the BBC Radio 4 comedy show "Concrete Cow". Grew up in southeast London. Graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. [1998] Attended James Allen Girls' School. Born to Jacqui and Colin Hawkins, noted authors and illustrators of children's books. While Sally has never written any children's book like her parents, she portrayed an author of children's literature in Paddington (2014). Was obsessed with 1940s black and white films in her childhood. Enjoys painting. In 2006, she told a reporter for The Independent that she had been diagnosed with a "chronic condition" (which she did not disclose) that required treatment and which seemed to be responding to treatment.

Was an extra on Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) while attending drama school. At the 86th Academy Awards in 2014, she was the only nominated actor in attendance, not to be given a reaction shot, following her "Oscar clip". Following her clip, the monitor broke down, and a black screen was shown. When the monitor was resurrected a few seconds later, it had cut to fellow nominee June Squibb instead. She has portrayed the mother of Craig Roberts 's character twice. First in Submarine (2010), then in Jane Eyre (2011). With her Golden Globe victory for Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), she joined a small group of actresses, who won a Golden Globe for a performance that was not nominated by the Academy Awards. Other actresses include Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet . Cate Blanchett and Hawkins became good friends after they co-starred in Blue Jasmine (2013). Blanchett won the Oscar for her performance in the film and mentioned Hawkins in her speech twice. First she thanked "the sublime Sally Hawkins" and then she thanked Carla Meyer "for getting Sally and I together".

Her favorite filmmakers are John Cassavetes and Robert Altman . Has one brother. He's five years older than she is and works as a web designer and illustrator. Cate Blanchett and she jokingly considered wearing crocs and plastic bags to The 86th Annual Academy Awards (2014), if the weather was bad. Found out about her Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Blue Jasmine while she was grocery shopping. Was originally cast in The Last Days on Mars (2013), but backed out due to personal commitments. She was replaced by Olivia Williams . 2010: Presented Robert Downey Jr. his Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Like her, he won the Golden Globe for a performance that he was not subsequently Oscar nominated for. Spokesperson for Oxfam's East Africa Appeal. Some of her fellow 1998 graduates from Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, includes Tobias Menzies , Robert Wilfort , Maxine Peake and Joanna Page . Good friends with Richard Ayoade , who has directed her several times. One of the first acting jobs she did was performing the title character in a school production of "The Emperor's New Clothes'.

Was on a lot of pain killers, when she attended the red carpet of the Golden Globes, for the first time in 2009. This was due to a painful scar she received after she broke her collarbone on a film set. Was attached to "The Roaring Girl" for a long time, but production on the film never developed. The film was set to be a biopic of Bernadette Devlin, the woman who became, at 21, Northern Ireland's youngest female Member of Parliament. Experienced her first desire to act at the age of 3, when she visited a circus for the first time and was subsequently inspired to perform. Has a fear of snakes. The role of Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) was written specially for her. Prior to filming, she prepared for the role by staying in character one day, while visiting the streets of London. Was originally cast in Dirty Girl (2010), in an unspecified part, but later dropped out for unknown reasons.

Three of the original Dagenham seamstresses invited her for tea, prior to the filming of Made in Dagenham (2010), as they wished to inform her properly about mindset behind the strike, that she was set to portray in the film. Hawkins' grandmother also worked as a seamstress, although not at the Dagenham factory. Her entrance to the stage, where she accepted her Golden Globe win, was briefly interrupted by fellow nominee Meryl Streep . Hawkins was awarded in favor of Streep, and on her way to the stage, she was stopped by Streep, who asked: "Are you happy now?". She was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. She has stated that acting lessons helped her to understand and pronounce words correctly. Good friends with Colin Farrell . Was cast in Godzilla (2014), almost three weeks after filming had begun on the production. Plays the piano, as seen in All Is Bright (2013). Her character's brief piano-act by was performed by herself.

Her films Submarine (2010), Never Let Me Go (2010) and Made in Dagenham (2010) all premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2010. Having three films premier at TIFF is a record-high number of films for an actress, and following this, she was entitled "Toronto's Belle of the Ball" by USA Today. Was cast in an ITV production of A Passage to India (1984), opposite Matthew Macfadyen , Laurence Fox and Gemma Jones . The show was set to air in the autumn of 2009, but the production was axed due to budget restrains. She was introduced as "The Best Actress You've Never Heard of" when she visited The Early Show on CBS in 2009. Replaced Rachel McAdams in Maudie (2016). One of 271 people invited to join AMPAS in 2014. Member of the jury at the London Film Festival in 2014.

Her character in Made in Dagenham (2010) was later taken to stage at West End, London, by Gemma Arterton in 2014. Has the rare feat of appearing in a short film that was Oscar-nominated, two consecutive years in a row: First, the animated Room on the Broom (2012) and subsequently The Phone Call (2013). Suffered from a concussion while filming a scene for Paddington (2014), because she walked into a crane during a night shoot. However, she continued working and didn't see a doctor until the scene was wrapped. Her brother was the first to inform her when she received her first Golden Globe nomination and the first to inform her about her Oscar nomination. Served as the inspiration for the title character in her parents' children's book "The Crazy Cow". Was originally unable to star in the short film The Phone Call (2013), due to a scheduling issue. However, the director Mat Kirkby decided to push the entire production, instead of finding another actress, because he eagerly wished for Hawkins to play the part. She completed her work in three days.

Kirby eventually won an Oscar for "Best Short Film, Live Action", and in his speech, he dedicated the award to Hawkins. She and Rafe Spall originated the lead roles of Marianne and Roland in Nick Payne 's acclaimed play "Constellations". The play later was set up various places around the world and eventually hit Broadway, with Ruth Wilson and Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead roles. Competed in swimming in school, doing the butterfly stroke. Has starred in two short film adaptations of a Julia Donaldson book, Room on the Broom (2012) and Stick Man (2015). Has been in eight films nominated for an Oscar, two of them being short films. The most common category among her represented films are 'Best Actress in a Leading Role' and 'Best Original Screenplay', for which her films have received three nominations. Four of her films has been nominated for Best British Film at the BAFTAs: Paddington (2014), Made in Dagenham (2010), An Education (2009) and Vera Drake (2004).

Personal Quotes (45) [on Godzilla (2014)] It doesn't actually feel like a huge film, and that's a testament to Gareth Edwards , the director. He's also English. And he comes from the performance first, rather than how it looks. I never expected I would be cast in a film like this - and that's all thanks to Gareth. His cast is really unusual and interesting and people you wouldn't normally see in this type of film, and I hope it makes for a different type of monster film. You only do good work when you're taking risks and pushing yourself and failing really badly. [on her part in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)]: Oh, I don't even know if I made the final cut. It was one day many years ago. I was still in drama school. A friend was working on it and got me in. I was in a huge audience scene. We were replicated about a thousand times. I wore a chiffon costume. It was quite a look. And I saw Ewan McGregor . He would not remember me. I never told him. I just passed by him.

He was playing football, and I was on my way to set. I was just an extra in the village. I got paid 100 quid, I think. [on Cate Blanchett , her co-star in Blue Jasmine (2013)]: I was very lucky with Cate. She's incredible, and she's a theater actress as well. She thinks and works - I'm flattering myself by saying this - in a similar way as me. She comes from that training and we had time together in New York to get to know each other. Luckily, she was performing "Uncle Vanya" to great acclaim. That was the first time I saw her in the flesh. Then we had time to just talk and unravel the script. That was invaluable for me. It created such grounding. I love Woody Allen because you are there to work and do your job. There is no time for the pleasantries. There's no time for chit-chat. I like that. He is very right to it. I never thought that I'd be lucky enough to work with him once let alone twice. He's incredibly precise and economical with his words. He doesn't want to hang around. He's sometimes incredibly specific.

And sometimes he just lets you get on with it, and he steps away. He works incredibly economically and fast, and he doesn't smooth it over. Does that make sense? He doesn't tell you, "Oh that's amazing." I'd love to do the Oscars in Topshop vintage, my way. But I'm not allowed. And it's all an illusion. The dresses - mine, anyway - have to be sent back at midnight, like Cinderella. [on recognition, following her win a the Berlin Festival for Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)]: I was having dinner after the ceremony and Paul Thomas Anderson came over. He congratulated me on the Bear, which was sitting on the table. I was dribbling with excitement. Michel Gondry also came to pay his respect. He loves Mike Leigh 's work; he talked about "Naked" and "Career Girls". Only for about 30 seconds, but time stood still. My family went to Universal Studios and did a Star Trek video spoof. My mum and dad were Klingons. I was Mr. Spock with the ears, and my brother was Captain Kirk. It's one of my most treasured possessions.

Every movie has a bit of magic in it. Even if it's just for a beat. It's outrageous how women in the film industry are paid less than men all the time. I went to a very good school where we were encouraged to be as independent and strong as we liked and it was quite a shock when I got out into the world to discover how women were patronized and undermined in the workplace. (2010) I loved working with Nigel Cole on [ Made in Dagenham (2010)], but I have to say that now that I think about it, considering what the movie has to say, wouldn't it have been great if 'Made in Dagenham' had been directed by a woman? That would be a real sign of progress, wouldn't it? Well my favourite elevenses would be a cup of tea, milky cup of tea, with custard creams, and I quite like Marmite on anything, preferably a crumpet. Normally I'm the sweet little thing. I don't really follow fashion. I like to be comfortable. I'm not a glamour puss. I'm not a model, and I don't want to be. I doubt also I could do anything else.

My skill set is limited I would be useless at most things! Truly. Acting I get. Mostly. And as long as I am still paid to do it I will keep going... I will keep going until I am kindly and politely asked to leave! [on Poppy Cross in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)] It's weird because a lot of men couldn't stand her, whereas women really liked her. At least they said they did. Maybe they were just lying. But I'm not a female lead. I don't play romantic heroines, and that's a good thing because they tend to be very dull parts. (July 2006) [on the Oscar for Best Director in 2010] It outrages me that it took so long for a woman to win the award, and that it was so unprecedented that everyone had to make such a fuss over it. It's infuriating the way men dominate everything, from TV in the UK to indie films to studio pictures. It really bugs me. When you say something with a smile, it makes the world a happier place and everyone appreciates it. I'm a real romantic.

[on the most important lesson that life has taught her] Go live it. Grab it. But be very kind on the way. [on her character Mary Brown in Paddington (2014)] Mrs Brown's quite an iconic figure in her own right, in that she brings Paddington into the family and adopts him. She's a character who you hope everyone will relate to and love. She's got to be all-embracing and something children recognise and feel safe with. [on the things she is offered to play] Sometimes you can pick and sometimes you can't. Sometimes there's a plethora of things, but sometimes it just depends what's about. Happy, healthy, know you have a good life. I was always brought up with that. But actually you never know whether a film is going to get made. And then the money comes, and then it's all incredibly quick. Initially when I came out of college I put *everything* on my CV, like water skiing, scuba diving, and horse riding and Grade 8 Piano and things like that. So it's high exaggeration.

But I think you just do, and you don't know what is expected of you or what you're supposed to do, I mean nobody tells you those things. You're sort of out there in the world and we're certainly not trained in that at RADA, just how to cope... [on her character Mrs Jill Tate in Submarine (2010)] Well if I was married, I'd be able to offer more insight. I'll be stabbing in the dark with this answer (laugh) but when I see friends who have very loving and successful marriages and relationships and when I see my own character, I think friendship is the key to a hearty, supportive marriage and relationship. Yeah, friendship and mutual respect. (October 2011) Although uncool is the coolest, isn't it really? Bonnie Tyler, she's not uncool. Cool's a tricky concept. Nothing gets me like piano solos. I love Bach, and the designer on The House of Bernarda Alba at the National (2005) gave me the Goldberg Variations, which changed everything. It can also just help you get up in the morning.

[in 2011] Of course, I would love to have that one iconic lead role, and every actress wants that, that's the ultimate, really. ... You do wanna find that role that defines you or that you can be really passionate about. I hope that still happens (laugh), I really do. [on what artists inspire her] This is almost impossible to answer as I am inspired by so many and all! You are influenced by everything if you are creative. Everything and everyone becomes a source of inspiration from artists like Van Gogh, Monet, Mondrian, Tracy Emin [sic], Pinter, Charles Dickens, Samuel Beckett, William Blake, Arthur Miller, Edward Lear (etc to friends or people you meet) From Elgar to Coltrane to Bjork! [sic] Music is a huge source of inspiration too. I'm nowhere near interesting enough for the press to make up stories about. Which is pretty wonderful in this position. I'm not a fan of interviews. I find I never get across what want to get across and things be slightly twisted [sic] or said in a way that you think you didn't say them. So golden rule - never read interviews.

Someone once wrote I had dyslexia as a child. Then that gets repeated, rather like a Chinese whisper. It's true I had trouble with words. But acting out stories, realising I could improvise, opened up a whole new world. I would just like to say that I can read. I love working and I love doing lots of things and a variety of things. It keeps your mind active...and you don't end up worrying about just the one thing. When I chew things over or analyze too much, that is when I can trip myself up. I work on a more instinctive level and it was good to completely throw myself into something else. And I'm the sort of person who prefers to disappear into roles. I know how naff that sounds but I do, and besides, I'm not interesting. I'm dull! [on whether she is a bit of a film nerd:] Yes, I'm kind of obsessed with film. I have my brother [Finbar Hawkins] to thank for my film education; he's obsessed. He sort of introduced me to Mike Leigh very early on, seeing Secrets and Lies -- I'd never seen anything like it. I remember seeing that probably before I should be watching those kinds of films.

I don't know how women can exist and... not claim to be a feminist? I don't understand how that works. You can't be a woman and not be a feminist, I don't think. [on James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS), and its theatre:] It was huge, bigger than professional theatres that I've worked in since!...But it was a very academically driven school, and to rebel against that I threw myself into the drama. All good stories have a sense of reality [but] we can never really represent reality or else it'd be incredibly dull on film. [on characters affecting her real life (May 2011):] I try to be quite disciplined about that, actually. Invariably, your work life has an effect - if you've had a bad day it can just bleed into your home life, you take it home and go over it in your head and torture yourself. But the characters I really try to leave behind, so when I step out of their shoes, I step well and truly back into my own. I have to, really, because otherwise I think I'd simply drive my friends and family mad.

And I do that anyway, for so many other reasons, that I have to try to at least spare them this! [on how whenever she gets nervous, she starts to talk (September 2010):] I just can't help myself. But is it good for me? You say something, things you would rather forget, and then they are out there. It makes me anxious and I don't know why people are interested in me anyway. If I had my way, I would rather exist in a little hole and not speak to anyone. I like eccentricity in people. I think it's something to be celebrated. My favourite kind of people are that way. I was brought up with a fantastically bright, strong-minded, independent mother [Jacqui Hawkins], and quite shocked by how I was treated as a young woman. Even on the bus. And the subtler it is, the more undermining and dangerous it can be. I don't find [publicity] easy and when you have someone who's difficult, it just clams me up. I'll know that they want an easy interview to pigeonhole me, or for me to come out with these amazing soundbites.

But I can't do that, I'm not that kind of person. And I don't want to be, really. See also Sally Hawkins . Sally Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is a British actress. Her performance as Poppy in the 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky won her several international awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress  Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Other significant roles include Susan in Vera Drake (2004), Sue Trinder in the BBC serial Fingersmith (2005), and Anne in Persuasion (2007). The daughter of Jacqui and Colin Hawkins, authors and illustrators of children's books, Hawkins was christened Sally Cecilia Hawkins and raised in Blackheath in southeast London, and she attended James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich. She then went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1998.

Hawkins' theatre appearances include Much Ado About Nothing (2000), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2000), Misconceptions (2001), Country Music (2004), and David Hare's adaptation of Federico García Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba in 2005. Hawkins made her first notable screen performance as Samantha in the 2002 Mike Leigh film All or Nothing. She also appeared as Slasher in the 2004 film Layer Cake. Her first major television role came in 2005 when she played Susan Trinder in the BAFTA-nominated BBC drama Fingersmith, an adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel of the same name, in which she co-starred with Imelda Staunton, as she had in Vera Drake. Since then she has gone on to star in another BBC adaptation, Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky. Hawkins has appeared in three episodes of the hit BBC comedy series Little Britain, in addition to Ed Reardon's Week on BBC Radio 4. She also has contributed her writing and vocal skills to the BBC Radio 4 series Concrete Cow.

Sally Hawkins Sally Hawkins | Chickipedia Forgot password? Create account Sally Hawkins Sally Hawkins is a British Award-winning actress, known mainly for her performance as Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), a role for which she has won several international awards, including the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Sally graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London in 1998 and made her first notable big screen performance as Samantha in the Mike Leigh film, All or Nothing in 2002. DETAILS Add Sally Hawkins is a British Award-winning actress, known mainly for her performance as Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), a role for which she has won several international awards, including the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Sally graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London in 1998 and made her first notable big screen performance as Samantha in the Mike Leigh film, All or Nothing in 2002. She also appeared as Slasher in the 2004 production of Layer Cake.

Her first major television role came in 2005 when she played Susan Trinder in the BAFTA-nominated BBC drama Fingersmith, an adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel of the same name; she co-starred with Imelda Staunton, as she had in Vera Drake. Since then she has gone on to star in another BBC adaptation, Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky. Professing a love for comedy, Hawkins has appeared in three episodes of the hit BBC comedy series Little Britain, plus Ed Reardon's Week on BBC Radio 4. She has also contributed her writing skills and voice to the BBC Radio 4 series Concrete Cow. In 2006, Hawkins returned to the theatre, appearing at the Royal Court Theatre in Jez Butterworth's play The Winterling. In 2007, she was in Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream, and played the lead in a new film of Jane Austen's Persuasion. And in 2008, she gave a Golden Globe-winning performance as the star of the film Happy-Go-Lucky. Hawkins' 2009 films include Desert Flower and Happy Ever Afters.

Her next project, playing Bernadette Devlin in The Roaring Girl, has been announced. Imelda Staunton: My career is not about looks - Telegraph Imelda Staunton: My career is not about looks Image 1 of 2 Staunton with her husband, Jim Carter, and daughter, Bessie, at the Oscars ceremony in 2005, when her dress and streaked hair was criticised by the US press Olga Craig 12:01AM GMT 08 Dec 2008 Imelda Staunton may be a 'tough cookie', taking on roles that rely more on grit than glamour, but ask the Oscar-winning Vera Drake actress about her mother or her close friends and, finds Olga Craig, a fluffier side emerges It's difficult to envisage Cranford's redoubtable and gossipy Miss Pole, all raw red cheeks and broderie anglaise bonnets, being overawed by anything.

Nor, for that matter, the caring charlady cum 1950s back-street abortionist Vera Drake, who dispensed tea and sympathy to her 'young ladies' before rolling up her sleeves, scrubbing her nails with carbolic soap and chirping briskly, 'Take your knickers off, dear.' Pole and Drake are two of the best-known alter egos of actress Imelda Staunton who, off screen, surprisingly, possesses little of her celluloid characters' boisterous behaviour or bustling self-confidence. She is, instead, remarkably self-contained. 'My first film? I had no idea what I was doing,' she confesses rather disarmingly. 'Absolutely no idea what I was doing. I remember never even being aware of where the camera was. It took me a long time to feel as confident on film as on stage. And I think I've only really been any good for the past five or six years.' And before that? The transition from jobbing actress to West End star? 'The same,' she says crisply. 'I thought there were repertory actors in the provinces and London actors.

I really didn't know you could make that move to what I thought was another hemisphere.' Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (a name so Irish Catholic that one can't help but wonder if her mother suspected she would conceive only once and so piled on her daughter all her favourite saints' names) is, in truth, much more self-effacing than one might assume. She is one of those actors who resigns herself to the fact that fame is a by-product of her profession, rather than actively seeking it. Interviews are a necessary evil; part of the publicity wagon for a new film or play. Not for divulging one's innermost secrets. So it's rather engaging to find her confiding that she has a rather personal and poignant mission that afternoon. 'I am meeting up with my gang of girlfriends - we've all known each other since we were 11 and we get together as often as we can,' she says. 'But at this time of year we have a special outing. One of our gang of five died a few years back, so we meet up at her grave, drink mulled wine and make a toast to her memory. Then we go out for a really nice lunch.

It is our way of continuing to include her in our gang.' The continuation of those life-long friendships means a lot, Staunton admits. 'Our life stories are interwoven: we all remember each other's parents, the way we all lived then,' she says. 'I like to surround myself with that sort of friendship.' It isn't a surprising revelation. Everything about Staunton, from her sensible, scuffed, flat, lace-up boots to her well-scrubbed face, smacks of all things practical: of a woman too busy getting on with life to become embroiled in the fripperies of fashion or to be found grinning inanely on the pages of showbiz magazines. At 5ft nothing, her physical presence, in contrast to her powerful screen personae, is far from commanding. Her mop of sludge-brown curls has scant acquaintance with a hairbrush, one suspects. And with her elfin features and ruddy cheeks, her good looks are more comely than classical. But then, as she says with a couldn't-care-less shrug: 'Fortunately, my career is about who I can be.

Not how I can look.' She is also, however, to quote Mike Leigh, who directed her in Vera Drake, 'one tough cookie'. Hard work, and lots of it, won Staunton, now 52, her place among the acting elite. And it's a long way from her working-class childhood in north London's tough Archway area. A rich and varied three-decade theatre career, peppered with three Olivier awards, paved the way for a film career that has reaped both a Golden Globe and an Oscar best actress nomination (for Vera Drake), as well as an OBE. Staunton was brought up in an Irish family: father Joe, a labourer, and mother Bridie, a hairdresser, were first-generation immigrants from County Mayo. Bridie was one of those accomplished musicians who couldn't read music, but could master almost any tune by ear on the accordion or fiddle and had played in Irish showbands. She was a larger-than-life woman, says Staunton. 'Neither of my parents were shy, retiring types. Both could tell a joke, be a bit of a raconteur. But, no, there was no theatrical background.

I think being an only child and, thus, reliant on my imagination, made me a better actor.' She was convent educated and her talent was spotted by Jackie Stoker, her elocution teacher. Before long she was starring as Polly Peachum in a school production of The Beggar's Opera. At age 11, she recalls writing diligently in her diary, 'I want to be an actress. But only if my parents are OK with it.' Bridie's approval, Staunton says, was important to her, which made her mother's death, three years ago, all the more painful. 'It left a void,' she says. 'I feel her loss all the time. Parental love is unconditional and we all miss that.' Bridie died suddenly after a heart bypass operation. 'She had been getting slower and slower, and when the doctors suggested the operation, I thought, "Excellent. Great idea, just the job. This is going to give her another 10 or 15 years!"' She drove Bridie to hospital on the day of her surgery, staying long enough to settle her in.

'Just as I was saying goodbye, the doctors came in, so I just sort of signalled "See you" from behind them and crept out,' says Staunton. 'I got into my car and was driving down the road, when I suddenly thought, "I didn't kiss her."' It was enough to make the dutiful daughter pull over. 'I drove straight back and went in again. I told her I would see her tomorrow and then I kissed her.' Staunton pauses. 'I'm so, so glad now that I did that.' Later that day, the surgeon broke the news that Bridie's heart was much more diseased than had been thought. She died the next day. 'The one comfort, and it's a slim one, is that she used to say, "Listen, Imelda. When I go, I want to go quick. I want to know nothing about it."' Staunton delivers the line in a pitch-perfect Mayo accent. She smiles at the memory. 'She was a grand woman,' she says, lapsing into Irish idiom.

Staunton auditioned and was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts at 17, where she was a contemporary of Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson and Timothy Spall. After that, it was the hard slog of rep. 'I'm glad I took the traditional route,' she insists. 'If I had been thrust onto the West End stage at 20, I know I wouldn't have done half so well as I have.' Staunton honed her craft in a wealth of plum roles that included parts in A Man for all Seasons, Mack & Mabel, Side by Side, Elektra and Saint Joan. And it was in the theatre that she met her husband, the craggy-faced character actor Jim Carter. Just last month, the couple celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. A romantic night away in a little hotel and 'a beautiful ring, a huge surprise' is all she will say of the celebrations. 'It's private,' she says primly. Carter, unlike Staunton, is one of those actors whose face is familiar but whose name isn't. 'In fact, he's acted in many more films than I have,' Staunton says.

'It's only in the past few years that I've become more recognised than him. There was a time when he was doing lots of telly and films and I was doing only theatre.' But though she is by far the better known, her success hasn't soured the marriage. 'I think it's because we both act for different reasons,' she says. 'I want good scripts and parts and he… Well, of course he wants good parts, but what he really loves is the whole social side of it. 'He's never been the sort of actor who yearns to play Hamlet. Maybe it's because he came to acting from performing in the circus. He has always done just what he wants to do.' The pair met in the early 1980s during rehearsals of Richard Eyre's Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre. 'We were doing a run-through and I remember thinking, "Who's that old bloke sitting over there?" I did. Really, I did,' she says, laughing uproariously.

'I was 26 and he was 34, that was old to me.' The rehearsals began in January and when Carter sent Valentine's cards to all the women in the crew - and the three gay men - Staunton was impressed with the gesture. 'I thought, "What a nice bloke." 'Then I found that when I went to the canteen I'd be keeping an eye out for him. I would be thinking, "I want to sit with that Jim." He was - and still is - one of those men who simply loves the company of women. And women adore his sense of humour. 'There I was, 5ft, and he is 6ft 2in. And rather dark and handsome. We worked together for a year and it was a slow burn rather than a heady rush of passion.' Staunton was 37 when she had her only child, Bessie, now 15. 'The old body clock started ticking like crazy at 35, so we reckoned the time was right. But it wasn't something I simply had to do.

I wouldn't have gone down the IVF route if it hadn't happened.' The birth was far from straightforward and Staunton suffered severe post-natal depression. It's not something she speaks of, though, believing it might upset Bessie. Motherhood, in her opinion, is a blessed state. 'When you're an actor, you are the focus of your attention,' she laughs. 'Having Bessie shifted that, which is a good and healthy thing.' Bessie is already on her way to becoming an accomplished actress herself. With some children's television under her belt, she was given a small part in Cranford and will enrol at the National Youth Theatre in 2010. Staunton is proud of her daughter. 'Seeing her hold her own was so uplifting,' she says. 'She's used to being on set. She knows the rules, the language. But it was pretty impressive to see her in action.' Staunton's first big-screen outing came in a 1985 Bill Douglas film, Comrades, a three-hour telling of the Tolpuddle Martyrs' story that wasn't hugely successful.

She continued to switch between stage and screen, and in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Staunton, as the smiling sadist Dolores Umbridge, for once, got to play a baddie. Critics described her performance as 'coming close to stealing the show' and she is hotly tipped to reprise the role in the Potter finale. Her latest film role is the comedy A Bunch of Amateurs, in which she stars alongside Burt Reynolds, Derek Jacobi and Samantha Bond. Reynolds plays an ageing Hollywood star who is duped into playing King Lear in an amateur production in Suffolk, believing it to be a grand Stratford-upon-Avon production. 'Filming was incredibly good fun,' says Staunton, 'since many of us have been great friends for years. We spent our time giggling together like children.' To date, though,Vera Drake has been her most accomplished film role. Her portrayal as the working-class wife and mother Drake, who has a compassionate, but secret, sideline in illegal abortions, is raw and powerful. When, finally, Vera is arrested, Staunton depicts a woman whose world has collapsed.

This dynamo of goodness and decency stands before the police, her shocked and unsuspecting husband and, eventually, the judge in silent stupefaction. Staunton undertook a huge amount of research, boning up for hours on books depicting life in the 1950s. 'I grew to totally understand Vera,' she says. 'Her family were very familiar to me. I remember when I was growing up, I'd see women like Vera walking down the street, their coats over their aprons. During the 1940s and 1950s, about 80 per cent of the women serving time in Holloway prison for carrying out illegal abortions were themselves mothers and grandmothers. 'I think we had the idea that these were mostly men, out to make money at the expense of vulnerable girls. But it was because they were mothers themselves that they knew and understood the predicament these girls were in. Many of these pregnant girls simply could not turn to their families. They were alone. Most of the women who did the abortions did so for nothing, out of compassion, like Vera.' Staunton took Bessie to see the film since she had read so much newspaper coverage of her mother's role.

'At the end she was quite teary and the first thing she said was, "Where were all the men?" I thought that was terribly astute.' Staunton is in favour of a woman's right to choose: after all, she has shunned Catholicism since she was 14. During the film's publicity tours she took part in many question-and-answer sessions. What surprised her was the number of women who spoke to her of their own experiences of abortion. 'Women told me horrific tales of their own abortions. One woman, though, that stuck in my memory had the most tragic story. 'She kept her baby, but such was her family's shame that she was forced to give him to her married sister. Then she had to live in the same house, never able to tell her son that she was really his mother.' When the film was turned down for the Cannes film festival, Staunton was disappointed. 'I thought, "Right, that's a year's work that will never be seen."' Then, suddenly, the film and its actors were showered in awards. Mike Leigh, its producer, anticipated an Oscar nomination for Staunton.

'He told me I would be short-listed, but that I would never win it,' she shrugs. 'Who is going to give an Oscar to an abortionist?' On Oscar night, filmgoers were stunned at the sight of Staunton on the red carpet. Coiffed and elegant, it was hard to believe she and the dowdy Drake were one and the same. The American press, however, howled in fright at Staunton's hair, emboldened with a blonde streak for the occasion, and her couture. 'Is this the Queen Mother or Imelda Staunton?' one New York paper yelped. 'The most frumpy, boring and uninspiring dress, and that skunk colour across her lovely head is outdated.' Typically, Staunton was unconcerned. 'I knew Armani was never going to offer to dress someone like me,' she shrugs, 'so I thought, "Sod it, I'll do it myself." I asked John Bright from Cosprop [a firm that specialises in hiring original period costumes] to find me something and I thought it was wonderful.' She clearly couldn't care less that few of the fashionistas agreed. Another shrug.

As far as Staunton was concerned, the biggest thrill of the 2005 Oscar odyssey was meeting the American comedian and actor Red Buttons at a dinner party. 'To be honest, I thought he was dead,' she says. 'He must be in his eighties now, but he came up to me and presented me with a huge bunch of flowers - he'd obviously swiped them out a vase because the stalks were still dripping wet. "I loved your movie," he said, "It made me laugh a lot".' By now, our time is up and the photographer is prowling impatiently outside. Staunton doesn't like to keep anyone waiting. As we walk down the hall, she fishes in her well-worn handbag and pulls out a make-up compact. She opens it, gazes in its mirror and wrinkles her nose distastefully. 'As a kid I used to think, Bette Davis, that's who I want to be like, because I'm not beautiful and she wasn't particularly beautiful,' she says. 'But, by Christ, she could really do it.' Turning back to the tiny mirror she swipes her cheeks with the powder puff and slicks some gloss on her lips.

'Right, ready,' she says crisply, clicking the compact closed. 'Let's get on. Let's get these pictures done, then.' • 'A Bunch of Amateurs' will be released on 19 December Start your free 30 day Amazon Prime trial»

Question: In the 2004 film of the same name who played the part of 'Vera Drake'?
Answer: IMELDA STAUNTON